Sonic Shootout action from second day, Dec. 19

The Crossville Jets and the Cookeville Cavalier boys’ basketball teams played the first games of the second day of the Sonic Shootout, which was Dec. 19, 2020, at Roy Sewell Gymnasium, in White County.

 Both teams had major energy and a lot of ball movement. They shared the ball well with their teammates. This game was a battle all the way down to the wire.

The Cavs pulled a lead of seven in the fourth and the Jets answered with two buckets. At the 5:30 mark, Cookeville led 69-62. The Jets hit a three around 3:16 to cut the score 65-69. A Crossville foul sent Cookeville to the line, where they missed both. Crossville gets an and1 on the other end and cuts the score to 67-69.

The Jets got put on the line again and missed the free throw but got offensive rebound and kicked it to Inman for a three to take the lead, 70-69 Crossville. Cookeville went down and got an easy bucket, 70-71. Inman hit a three, with less than a minute to tie it, 73-73. Cookeville answered with a jumper, 73-75. Inman hit another three to make it 76-75. Less than 10 seconds to go, Cumberland County got a board and got fouled. They missed both free throws. Cookeville called a timeout, with 2.3 left of the game. Crossville led 76-75. Cookeville threw it in, but Crossville recovered the ball and won the game. Cookeville’s Ayers led scoring with 17, and Crossville’s Inman led with 24.

The second game consisted of DeKalb County and Crossville girls. At the end of the first, DeKalb was up 11-8.

In the second quarter, Crossville’s Baldwin kept them in the game. She scored four buckets in a row. She helped Crossville take the lead of 16-11. DeKalb hit three free throws before the half, making the score 16-14 in Crossville’s favor.

 The third quarter was slow and low scoring. Both teams traded baskets, and, at the end of the third, the score was 25-23 Crossville.

To start the fourth quarter, Crossville got the ball. They capitalized on their offensive rebounds and ran away with the game. The final score was 44-30.

DeKalb’s leading scorer was Van Vranken with 15. Cumberland’s Baragona ended up with 20 for the win.

During the third game, Tullahoma got a jump on Webb and outscored them 20-12 in the first quarter.

The first half was full of hustle and team ball from both teams. Tullahoma was up at the half 34-28. By the end of the third, Webb trailed by 1, 45-44. Late in the fourth quarter, Tullahoma let Webb slip by with two easy buckets. Webb pulled the game away in the last two minutes. Tullahoma made a jumper, with 1:03 left, and called a timeout. Tullahoma fouled and sent Webb to the line. Despite Tullahoma’s best efforts, they lost to Webb. 52-61. Webb’s Dwyer scored 30 points. Tullahoma’s Nutt and Farrell finished with 12 and 11.

The Warriorettes played the fourth, and biggest, game of the night versus Kingston. White County won the tip and Nia Powers scored a layup. Back to back steals by Powers and Gracie Dodgen converted to Powers scoring a jumper. This put the Warriorettes up 4-0. Kingston had a slow start, not scoring until the five-minute mark. The Warriorettes shot 4/4 free throws. Stiles tied it up with a Kingston player, which gave Sparta the ball for Dodgen to hit one of her 15 threes of the night. She then hit another right after. Kingston tried to trade baskets, but Sparta hit so many threes they couldn’t keep up. The score was 30-10 after the first.

Kingston’s Neal kicked off the second quarter with a three. Frazier found Dodgen in the corner down the floor for yet another three. Kingston had trouble getting shots to fall, Sparta took advantage of this and found Dodgen for a three. The Warriorettes scored 10 straight points, bringing the score to 45-15. Haston came in and hit two threes, and Quick hit a three as well. Bailey scored four points, trying to get Kingston back in it. Sparta turned the ball over, and Kingston capitalized, making 10 straight points. McDonald jumped in the game and assisted Quick in a three, with six seconds to go in the half. Quick fouled on the other end and Kingston hit both free throws. The half ended 55-28.

Dodgen hit seven threes in the third, with Quick behind her hitting two.  Lemons, Brackett, and Fritz tried their hardest to keep Kingston in the game. Fritz led Kingston with 14. Sparta was hot from the three-point line, and there was no stopping them, especially Dodgen. The Warriorettes took advantage of transition to find their shooters. By the end of the third, Sparta was up 86-39.

The fourth quarter was fun. The bench was alive even more so than before. At 7:19 Dodgen hit a three to break the individual state record, set at 14 in 2017. Golden entered the game, hitting her first three that tied the team state record, and right after her second that broke it. The team state record was 23 threes in a game, held by Summit from last year. McDonald and Golden hit back-to-back layups, with less than two minutes to go.

 The Warriorettes beat Kingston 101-42 and outscored them 15-0 in the fourth. Dodgen also broke Pam Watts’ record from 1972 of 42 points in a game being the most; Dodgen had 45.

Dodgen: 45pt-3assist

Quick: 14pt-4assist-4steals

Powers: 11pt-5rebounds

Reed: 9pt-6rebounds-3steals

Golden: 8pt-1steal

Haston: 6pt

Stiles: 4pt-4rebounds

McDonald: 2pt-2assist

Frazier: 2pt & 12assist

Frasier: 2assist-1steal

Brown: 4 rebounds

Gentry: 1 assist

The Warriors matched up with McMinn Central for the fifth game of the night. White County won the tip and scored 11 points straight. It wasn’t until 4:24 left in the first quarter that McMinn would score. McMinn struggled with their shots not falling. Slatten scored five more points before McMinn hit a three. The score was 16-5. Nash got fouled while making a three. He completed his four-point play. A steal by Davis led Tanner Paul to a drive and a completed and one. Corden scored a bucket right before the quarter ended, 23-7 after one.

Paul started the second by making 1/2 foul shots. McMinn’s Masingale hit back to back buckets. Clark got fouled for an and1, but he did not make the free throw. Instead, he gets his own rebound and finds Davis in the corner for 3. WCHS continued to trade baskets with McMinn for the rest of the second. It was 42-28 at the half.

Slatten had 14 points in the third, including a dunk. The boys moved and shared the ball very well, which contributed to their success. Someone was always running the floor, and the ball was advanced to them, resulting in a finish. By the end of the third, WCHS led 65-35. Paul started the fourth quarter off with a foul. Masingale would make both. McMinn scored the first five points of the last quarter. The Warriors had some trouble getting their first shot to fall, but always had a teammate ready to get the rebound for a put back or kickout three. They pulled out a 79-44 win. Slatten finished with 34, 14 of which were in the first quarter.

Slatten: 34pt

Paul: 15pt

Clark: 8pt

Davis: 8pt

Nash: 7pt

Richmond: 4pt

Stephens: 3pt

Stone Memorial and Clarkrange girls played the last game of the night. The game was close, and the crowd was loud. Kassie Monday was the leading scorer for Clarkrange with 20 points. Annah Goss was the leading scorer for Stone with 17 points. Stone led at the end of the first quarter and kept the lead for the entire game, although Clarkrange kept the game in a close race. The Lady Buffaloes trailed 57-49, with 45 seconds in the game. Stone’s Dishman scored two points after a patient possession. Pierce hit a three for the Lady Buffaloes, which put them one point behind. Clarkrange took it for a drive, but it bot blocked. 1.1 seconds left Clarkrange had a chance to win but missed the jumper at the buzzer. Clarkrange fought hard and fought to the last second of the game, but Stone won 61-60.